WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kaspersky
Lab announces the discovery of ‘Gauss’, a new cyber-threat targeting
users in the Middle East. Gauss is a complex, nation-state sponsored
cyber-espionage toolkit designed to steal sensitive data, with a
specific focus on browser passwords, online banking account credentials,
cookies, and specific configurations of infected machines.

The online banking Trojan functionality found in Gauss is a unique
characteristic that was not found in any previously known cyber-weapons.

Gauss was discovered during the course of the ongoing effort initiated
by the InternationalTelecommunicationUnion
(ITU), following the discovery of Flame. The effort is aimed at
mitigating the risks posed by cyber-weapons, which is a key component in
achieving the overall objective of global cyber-peace.

ITU, with expertise provided by Kaspersky Lab, is taking important steps
to strengthen global cyber-security by actively collaborating with all
relevant stakeholders such as governments, the private sector,
international organizations and civil society, in addition to its key
partners within the ITU-IMPACT initiative.

Kaspersky Lab’s experts discovered Gauss by identifying commonalities
the malicious program share with Flame. These include similar
architectural platforms, module structures, code bases and means of
communication with command & control (C&C) servers.

Quick facts:

Analysis indicates that Gauss began operations in the September 2011
timeframe.

It was first discovered in June 2012, resulting from the knowledge
gained by the in-depth analysis and research conducted on the Flame
malware.

This discovery was made possible due to strong resemblances and
correlations between Flame and Gauss.

The Gauss C&C infrastructure was shutdown in July 2012 shortly after
its discovery. Currently the malware is in a dormant state, waiting
for its C&C servers to become active.

Since late May 2012, more than 2,500 infections were recorded by
Kaspersky Lab’s cloud-based security system, with the estimated total
number of victims of Gauss probably being in the tens of thousands.
This number is lower compared to the case of Stuxnet but it’s
significantly higher than the number of attacks in Flame and Duqu.

Gauss steals detailed information about infected PCs including browser
history, cookies, passwords, and system configurations. It is also
capable of stealing access credentials for various online banking
systems and payment methods.

Analysis of Gauss shows it was designed to steal data from several
Lebanese banks including the Bank of Beirut, EBLF, BlomBank,
ByblosBank, FransaBank and Credit Libanais. In addition, it targets
users of Citibank and PayPal.

The new malware was discovered by Kaspersky Lab’s experts in June 2012.
Its main module was named by the unknown creators after the German
mathematician Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss. Other components bear the
names of famous mathematicians as well, including Joseph-Louis Lagrange
and Kurt Gödel. The investigation revealed that the first incidents with
Gauss date back as early as September 2011. In July 2012 the command and
control servers of Gauss stopped functioning.

Multiple modules of Gauss serve the purpose of collecting information
from browsers, which include the history of visited websites and
passwords. Detailed data on the infected machine is also sent to the
attackers, including specifics of network interfaces, the computer’s
drives and BIOS information. The Gauss module is also capable of
stealing data from the clients of several Lebanese banks including the
Bank of Beirut, EBLF, BlomBank, ByblosBank, FransaBank and Credit
Libanais. It also targets users of Citibank and PayPal.

Another key feature of Gauss is the ability to infect USB thumb drives,
using the same LNK vulnerability that was previously used in Stuxnet and
Flame. At the same time, the process of infecting USB sticks is more
intelligent. Gauss is capable of “disinfecting” the drive under certain
circumstances, and uses the removable media to store collected
information in a hidden file. Another activity of the Trojan is the
installation of a special font called Palida Narrow, and the purpose of
this action is still unknown.

While Gauss is similar to Flame in design, the geography of infections
is noticeably different. The highest number of computers hit by Flame
was recorded in Iran, while the majority of Gauss victims were located
in Lebanon. The number of infections is also different. Based on
telemetry reported from the Kaspersky Security Network (KSN), Gauss
infected approximately 2,500 machines. In comparison, Flame was
significantly lower, infecting closer to 700 machines.

Although the exact method used to infect the computers is not yet known,
it is clear that Gauss propagates in a different manner to Flame or
Duqu; however, similar to the two previous cyber-espionage weapons,
Gauss’ spreading mechanisms are conducted in a controlled fashion, which
emphasize stealth and secrecy for the operation.

Alexander Gostev, Chief Security Expert, Kaspersky Lab, commented:
“Gauss bears striking resemblances to Flame, such as its design and code
base, which enabled us to discover the malicious program. Similar to
Flame and Duqu, Gauss is a complex cyber-espionage toolkit, with its
design emphasizing stealth and secrecy; however, its purpose was
different to Flame or Duqu. Gauss targets multiple users in select
countries to steal large amounts of data, with a specific focus on
banking and financial information.”

At the present time, the Gauss Trojan is successfully detected, blocked
and remediated by Kaspersky Lab’s products, classified as Trojan-Spy.Win32.Gauss.

Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint
protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four
vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its
15-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security
and provides effective digital security solutions for consumers, SMBs
and Enterprises. The company currently operates in almost 200 countries
and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300
million users worldwide. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.

*The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint
Security Revenue by Vendor, 2010. The rating was published in the IDC
report Worldwide IT Security Products 2011-2015 Forecast and 2010 Vendor
Shares – December 2011. The report ranked software vendors according to
earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2010.